--- Laws 3 ---

In the age of the automobile, the world is still replete with foot trails. My favorite haunt as a kid were the local trails around Stewart's Hill in Valley, Alabama. Later, I looked for variety in the mountain trails of the Southeast. And I am delighted to find so many corridors in Denver set aside for foot traffic.

But different trails are administered by different organizations and the different organizations have different reasons for maintaining trails.

I've used both Rails to Trails trails and the Appalachian Trail and foot paths associated with it back east. Although multi-use, they seem to be focused on making the "great outdoors" accessible to people who want to enjoy it.

Rails to Trails Conservancy (https://www.railstotrails.org) is an interesting organization that buys old, dilapidated railways and converts them into walking trails. If you're in the United States, there is probably one near you.

Denver encourages foot traffic for very utilitarian purposes. Their past with smog is enough motivation to want to cut down on automobile traffic as much as is practical and the foot trails are very much about "point A to point B" transportation. When I lived on Floyd Avenue, Bear Creek Trail was a major byway from areas east and west to Bear Creek Valley and River Point Shopping Centers. The Centennial Trail is not called a "link" for nothing. So, for instance, dogs are welcomed on most of the trails in the Denver area.

Not so for Waterton Canyon. A very strong emphasis there is Colorado Water maintenance traffic to and from Strontia Springs Dam and conservation, particularly of Bighorn sheep. There are signs there prohibiting dogs. Sheep and dogs don't get along.

So, what are your favorite trails and who administers them? Do they post rules and regulations? If they don't have signs on the trail, they may have a website that lists rules and regulations. If not, local, state, and federal government laws apply and, if you don't live in the area, you might be surprised to find that laws there are different from laws where you live.

--- Laws 2 ---

So, what's the difference between a rule and a regulation. I looked it up.

A regulation is created by an authoritative governmental body who has the delegated authority to enforce it. A rule is not.

I still get confused because rules can be enforced, usually not as strictly as a regulation. It's against the law to hold up a grocery store and you can expect serious repercussions for doing so. Walking into a grocery store barefoot, even when there are signs forbidding it on the entrance, is not, I think, against the law, but many grocery stores hold it as a rule, and they can kick you out if they catch you doing it. My confusion stems from the fact that, in documents that list rules and regulations, they don't often distinguish the rules from the regulations. I guess you just have to guess.

Anyway -

                                                                  Triangle sign

Ever played rock-paper-scissors? Well, on Bear Creek Trail, horses trump bicycles and hikers, and hikers trump bikers. Actually, it makes sense. Horses can be spooked by things coming up beside them. Their peripheral vision isn't that great to start with. Everybody loses if you spook a horse. Same goes for a bicyclist running over a hiker. And bicyclists can move a lot faster than a hiker to get out of the way.

Bikers can go faster here, though. That would be because it's in the middle of a prairie dog town and you can see what's around you for a long way.

Most of the bikers on Bear Creek, when they are coming up behind you, will say, "On the right." I've gotten over the urge to jump right.


And there's who I contacted to tell me about the rules and regulations thing. If you're traveling to Denver and you want to know about Bear Creek Trail, Lakewood Regional Parks manage the western half. They also have a website, here:

http://www.lakewood.org/Community_Resources/Parks,_Forestry_and_Open_Space/Parks,_Forestry_and_Open_Space.aspx

                                                           Map of the western half

                                                                     The rules

Traffic signs happen on trails, too. Some of the topography can be surprising if you're not familiar with your surroundings.

                                                             Curve and downgrade

Honestly, I see the need for people to pick up after their pets (they certainly can't do it for themselves) and providing doggie bags for the purpose is a great thing, but keeping poop (or, sorry, poo) before the public's eye - I wonder if anyone has done research to see if displays like this really does any good.

                                                                 poo signs

A cursory examination of Google Scholar citations on "pet feces" indicate that it's not a good thing to let pet feces just lie around, but I could not find a study on the effectiveness of different programs to change the behavior of pet owners. That sounds like a great graduate study to me.

Here are some of the pictures I took on that alternative trail I wanted to check out. It sorta looks like a desert trail and, technically, Denver is high desert, but it has it's interesting points, including some beautiful views of the Rockies and the countryside to the east. But it didn't turn out to be any easier or quicker. As you can see, it's all up and down.

The trail parallels Morrison Road, which is what gave me the idea that it might offer a straighter shot to Morrison. At one point, it runs alongside a small canal, and connects in several places to the North Park Trail.

                                                                Canal

But it does ultimately lead to Morrison where I noticed this old fire engine on display for the first time.

                                                        Fire engine in Morrison

And I stopped in at the Mill Street eats for a great burger and shake before returning to the trail.

These two ducks were completely ignoring the signs emphasizing how dangerous this dam across Bear Creek is.

On the way back, clouds were building up in back of the Front Range and there was thunder. Normally, I wouldn't have been that bothered except that this was where I was and the nearest shelter was on top of that hill (Mount Carbon). So I double timed it up the mountain and got to the top just about when the wind hit. The worst of the storm went around to the north, though.

                                                             Mount Carbon

I did stop in at the Visitor Center earlier and found out how Mount Carbon got it's name. It seems that coal and clay for ceramics was, in fact, mined there for a short time. There was even a small town named Cowen and a railroad spur line in the big depression now occupied by Bear Creek Lakes Park. The area where mining took place can still be seen as a trench in the top of the mountain. The Robinson brick company started up in 1910. It closed in 1912. Mt. Carbon school was built earlier in 1878 and taught grades 1 through 8. It closed in 1920.

The mining operation quickly played out and the town was abandoned. The flood of 2013 took out the rest of Cowen and now it really is a ghost of a town.

It sorta reminds me of the Old Cahaba Archaeological Park near Selma, Alabama. I used to call it "the only park where you have to imagine what you see." So, maybe it's not the only place like that. Both places have their draws. You just have to use your imagination if you want to see the towns.

Bear Creek Trail itself runs through two golf courses on the eastern side of Mount Carbon and signs bear witness to the fact that golfers and hikers are mixing, and that golf courses are sometimes private property.

                                                                 golf course signs

I made my way back along the way I came to Wadsworth Boulevard and buses to where the storm finally caught me waiting for a bus at Englewood station. Suddenly very cold and getting wet - I called a Lyft cab and got myself to home.

The moral of that story is: always have alternatives.